Valve software is always looking for new opportunities in the field of VR. It was because of Valve that HTC was able to develop HTC VIVE. But, now the company has decided that its high time to shift to the better headset with much more capabilities. One of the main reason behind this is the sudden increase in the competition in the VR field.

Valve is now offering new core components to VR hardware manufacturers which include custom lenses. According to the company, these lenses are specially designed to support next generation room scale virtual reality. This is not the first big announcement by Valve this year. The company also started freely licensing its innovative Steam VR Tracking technology earlier this year. Steam VR tracking was one of the key components of HTC VIVE as it lets people explore entire room while completely immersed in a virtual world.

LG also deployed this technology in their own prototype of the headset. Also, HTC is working on Tracking technology to bring various accessories. Valve is also preparing to release the second generation of their tracking technology which could help companies cut down the cost of headsets while enabling entire warehouse to be tracked.

Now valve is looking to collaborate with other hardware manufacturers for VR headsets with a widened selection of components. In the press release Valve said that it will support both LCD and OLED display manufacturers. Both Oculus and Rift use OLED screen while some of the Microsoft display is using LCD’s. Valve also developed custom lenses which could work with both LCD and OLED display technologies and is working on making these lenses available to purchase for use in Steam VR compatible headsets. Valve also issued a statement that these lenses are designed to be paired with several off the shelf VR displays to enable best VR experience. These optical solutions currently support 90-120 degrees of field of vision. The next generation VR headset is designed to optimise the user’s perceived tracking experience and image sharpness while reducing stray lights.

We all know that Valve is always enthusiastic when it comes to developing something new in the Virtual Reality field this announcement should not surprise anyone. We will have to wait and see how the other VR headset manufacturers react to this announcement.